Economy of Sbenny forums

[pigcanswim]

It appears there's no longer any daily log in rewards which is truly saddening as the way this forums operates is by participating in forums and doing other non related stuff just to earn SBCash or to spend money into the forums just so we can unlock certain games.

Honestly it's all good however i just want to understand a few points. What's the actual purpose of this SB forum?
Is it to recognize modders?
Is it so modders can get a platform to earn money for their works?
Or is this a place where modders get together to have fun by sharing their works?

In a public forum it's impossible to expect everyone to contribute to a thread which in turn makes it impossible for casual people aka lurkers to actually get the things they want. The only way for casual players can get what they need is through daily log in and try to earn some SBCash. If the main purpose of this forum is for modders to earn some money then i believe SBenny should do something about the economy by either lowering the worth of the currency here or even remove it entirely and move to other ways of earning for example making it free to download and uploading to some other file hosters that give payouts per downloads. This is really not making any sense at all to remove the only way of earning (daily login).

Lets say I want a game that looks interesting so of course, I paid for the mod and installed onto my phone. Sure I may get some cash back by replying in the thread with screenshots or videos but what if the game somehow wont start up(black screen, forced close, etc)? Won't the Cash be wasted? It not like I can get a refund on this either.
Games may look interesting but it does not mean it will be fun or entertaining enough for the users. With such high prices, why would I pay 200 - 300 for a game that I just want to test to see if its entertaining enough for me to continue playing and make my purchase worthwhile?

It just goes to show that the richer will always be richer and the poorer, poorer. Not everyone can have the resources to contribute to this forum and not everyone is hardcore enough to actively participate in the forums. Honestly, I am just a lurker here as I can neither mod nor contribute to the forums and the only way I can be in this forums is by waiting for the dailies and bank. but now even though I have less than 1K cash I was told I am part of the top SBCash users around which honestly doesn't make any sense. I see the top normal users at around 30k (excluding the millionaires) and being a 1K user I don't understand this at all.

The way this is going is to kill all casual players and sure it may be good for the community but whats the point of a community if everyone in it are a group of elites that are good in modding?
Is the modder gonna give mods to other modders who can actually mod the game themselves?

Just my 2 cent thought on this. hopefully there will be a change in the system.

PEACE OUT

 

[Aurora Heart]

First off, good question in regards to the sake of the site. Sbenny to me is about more than just the modders. They deserve the respect and admiration for doing such a beautiful job releasing all these wonderful mods FREE OF CHARGE to us here on the forums. They dont have to take time out of their lives to mod for us. Heck even if they're only modding stuff for themselves they still dont have to share it for public use.

That should answer your question in that regard. As the one's who play these mods this site is also for us. Sbenny is a safe and secure forum that houses mods for all kinds of apps, something we all had trouble searching for across the internet. Before Sbenny we all were forced to search across Youtube, Google and the like and 9/10 we're met with fake mods and APKs and even viruses.

In regards to contribution to the forum. You literally just contributed making this thread. It really isn't asking much too much for us when SB Points literally costs us nothing to earn other than a little time and interaction. In regards to "Lurkers" not being able to unlock or use anything then that just means they cant want the mod as much as they let on. They could always mod themselves

I understand the frustrations with unlocking a game or mod that doesn't necessarily work but in saying that... 9/10 people will not read comments left by other users not check to see if the mod is in working order. People will ALWAYS be quick in complaining about what is wrong with a mod. You wouldn't exactly set up a lego set blindly without reading the instructions. It works the same way. If your worried about an app.. Wait for the staff stamp of approval which is placed on EVERY mod that is released.

The rich will always be richer? To me it's more like the Hardworking will be rewarded. Those who contribute will be given their dues. Its the same in real life. Contribution doesn't mean releasing mods or apps or anything of the like. Keeping the site active and our forums interactive is contributing to the site in more ways than you realise!

Anyways it hardly matter. People will still find issue that things cant just be handed to them free of charge, regardless if it takes someone else time and effort

 

[Elixirs]

Well said @Aurora Heart

 

[pigcanswim]

First off, good question in regards to the sake of the site. Sbenny to me is about more than just the modders. They deserve the respect and admiration for doing such a beautiful job releasing all these wonderful mods FREE OF CHARGE to us here on the forums. They dont have to take time out of their lives to mod for us. Heck even if they're only modding stuff for themselves they still dont have to share it for public use.

That should answer your question in that regard. As the one's who play these mods this site is also for us. Sbenny is a safe and secure forum that houses mods for all kinds of apps, something we all had trouble searching for across the internet. Before Sbenny we all were forced to search across Youtube, Google and the like and 9/10 we're met with fake mods and APKs and even viruses.

This is definitely true and i understand perfectly. But in this community it's very hard for others to contribute and the main contributors are usually the top modders as the rest simply DO NOT mod games and as far as i can understand mods are usually done as a hobby for people who can understand the process of doing it. Yes, they are providing the mods free of charge but at what cost over here? The cost is pretty much contribution to the community. Now I do not understand how SBCash is a form of respect when people can just earn it easily. It seems more of a transaction in this community where people just have to post stuff that doesn't really matter just to get the SBCash.

Do not get me wrong. I do respect modders for contributing to this community and I appreciate their work because if not for them I would not have mods for app/games that I want but the way the system is in SBenny is way different. A simple form of respect could be likes which is a standard in all forums but honestly, over here when you see someone with a ton of SBCash, do you really think that is a form of respect? I can create lots of meaningless talk and be able to get some SBCash and who know, I may be able to hit the ranking boards and this really doesn't define respect.

SBenny reported abuse of the system but that just goes to saying the SBCash system is flawed and is meaningless. I'm here to get a mod that i like but once i see that i need 300 SBCash and i can only get about 5 or so Cash daily with frequent activity, i will still need about 60 days which is about 2 months just to get the Mod. even with the daily login reward i would have needed about 10 days just to get the mod which honestly is very long, and i could have just attempt another search in the net for some other forums providing said mod. The incentive are really low for casual user and power users(modders) does not need to buy the mod on the site as they can do it. This in turn will just bring down any casual user and in the end only modders will be alive in this community.

The rich will always be richer? To me it's more like the Hardworking will be rewarded. Those who contribute will be given their dues. Its the same in real life. Contribution doesn't mean releasing mods or apps or anything of the like. Keeping the site active and our forums interactive is contributing to the site in more ways than you realise!

My meaning in this is the fact that modders will always be the top 2 percentile contributor to the community as they are made for the community and the community revolves around them. If I'm just a casual player how would i integrate into a community of modders. What could i possibly 'contribute' to this community? If i have to buy SBCash then there's no way the mods are provided free of charge. It just meant the work are up for sale which is exactly what my original post was asking,

What's the actual purpose of this SB forum?
1. Is it to recognize modders?
2. Is it so modders can get a platform to earn money for their works?
3. Is this a place where modders get together to have fun by sharing their works?

You stated your stand against mine but I do not see you reply on this question.
If your answer consist of 2 then I suppose this flawed system will continue to stay.

 

[Mark A]

What's the actual purpose of this SB forum?
1. Is it to recognize modders?
2. Is it so modders can get a platform to earn money for their works?
3. Is this a place where modders get together to have fun by sharing their works?

1. The SB Points System exists to prevent leechers from stealing mods. (Technically speaking.)
2. Modders don't get paid with real money; They get SB Points for their work.
3. Not sure I never successfully modded a game before;
the forum is a "safe" place to get mods.

 

[pigcanswim]

1. The SB Points System exists to prevent leechers from stealing mods. (Technically speaking.)
2. Modders don't get paid with real money; They get SB Points for their work.
3. Not sure I never successfully modded a game before;
the forum is a "safe" place to get mods.

Then this just makes the system worst. From my understanding, and from the page How to get SB Points i found that the majority of the methods are mainly revolving around modders,
Posting a shared app
Release eBooks, Audio Books, Emulator ROMS, Emulators, PS3 Save Files, NSFW and PC Stuff
+ 60 SB Points
Release Android Games, Apps, PC VIP Stuff, Custom/Official ROMs, Kernels and Rooting Tutorials
+ 350 SB Points ~ UNLIMITED SB Points
Fulfilling a request
+ 500 SB Points ~ UNLIMITED SB Points
Release a VIP Game/App
+ 600 SB Points ~ UNLIMITED SB Points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Review a Game, a Movie, an eBook or Your Smartphone!
Varies
Record and share the Gameplay of Apps downloaded from our site
+ 400 SB Points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Redeem
+250 ~ 100,000 SB Points
Lottery
+ 0 ~ 500,000 SB Points
Contests
+0 ~ 100,000 SB Points
ANYTHING else
and out of the 11 methods here 5 of them are related to modders(Release a game, Ebook, VIP game, Fulfilling a request). 2 of them are by luck(Lottery, Contest) and the rest are review record etc which i will not consider a method because before I can even review or have a screenshot, I will have to spend 100 - 300 SB Points which in turn is impossible if I don't have any in the first place.

How does a casual player do earn SB Points if thats the case? Even if they want to get a bank they would need a few thousands of SB Points to unlock it and a few thousands more to start rolling in some SB Points which unfortunately is now disabled due to abuse. Even with only a less than a thousand, I am listed as one of the few richer users and interested is disabled for me.

This meant that new users will be in a hell of a ride should they just create their account and have a few games they need but just do not have the SB Points for the unlocks.

This will also meant that this community will be just a group of modders releasing stuff to their own.

I shall take in the fact that most casual players are leechers/lurkers and if you want to stop them you may well just change this forum into a private one and only good/loyal support(theses with VIP membership/contributions of other stuff) can get in.

 

[Mark A]

Then this just makes the system worst. From my understanding, and from the page How to get SB Points i found that the majority of the methods are mainly revolving around modders,
Posting a shared app
Release eBooks, Audio Books, Emulator ROMS, Emulators, PS3 Save Files, NSFW and PC Stuff
+ 60 SB Points
Release Android Games, Apps, PC VIP Stuff, Custom/Official ROMs, Kernels and Rooting Tutorials
+ 350 SB Points ~ UNLIMITED SB Points
Fulfilling a request
+ 500 SB Points ~ UNLIMITED SB Points
Release a VIP Game/App
+ 600 SB Points ~ UNLIMITED SB Points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Review a Game, a Movie, an eBook or Your Smartphone!
Varies
Record and share the Gameplay of Apps downloaded from our site
+ 400 SB Points
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Redeem
+250 ~ 100,000 SB Points
Lottery
+ 0 ~ 500,000 SB Points
Contests
+0 ~ 100,000 SB Points
ANYTHING else
and out of the 11 methods here 5 of them are related to modders(Release a game, Ebook, VIP game, Fulfilling a request). 2 of them are by luck(Lottery, Contest) and the rest are review record etc which i will not consider a method because before I can even review or have a screenshot, I will have to spend 100 - 300 SB Points which in turn is impossible if I don't have any in the first place.

How does a casual player do earn SB Points if thats the case? Even if they want to get a bank they would need a few thousands of SB Points to unlock it and a few thousands more to start rolling in some SB Points which unfortunately is now disabled due to abuse. Even with only a less than a thousand, I am listed as one of the few richer users and interested is disabled for me.

This meant that new users will be in a hell of a ride should they just create their account and have a few games they need but just do not have the SB Points for the unlocks.

This will also meant that this community will be just a group of modders releasing stuff to their own.

I shall take in the fact that most casual players are leechers/lurkers and if you want to stop them you may well just change this forum into a private one and only good/loyal support(theses with VIP membership/contributions of other stuff) can get in.

The Game Review section are not exclusive for modded versions.
The Movie Review section is...self-explanatory.
VIP system was discontinued due to leaching.
Nobody can deny that's it was easier before when the Daily Login SB Points required almost no effort.

Edit:
I realized that your definition of Leech and leaching is incorrect.
Leechers are people who steals mods and post it elsewhere. (Some times selling it for money.)

Sidenote:
I'm a casual member and gamer, I only play offline games most are RPGs and Choice.
I currently have the "Active User" Badge.
Feel free to study my past actions as proof.
Here's how:
If you click at a member's name, it will open that member's profile (some accounts have restrictions).
Then look at my "Latest Activity" and "Postings".

Post automatically merged: Nov 21, 2019

Also in your first post you wrote:
"why would I pay 200 - 300 for a game that I just want to test to see if its entertaining enough for me to continue playing and make my purchase worthwhile?"

You don't have to unlock modded versions for that, use the play store/app store versions.

 

[pigcanswim]

The Game Review section are not exclusive for modded versions.
The Movie Review section is...self-explanatory.
VIP system was discontinued due to leaching.
Nobody can deny that's it was easier before when the Daily Login SB Points required almost no effort.

Edit:
I realized that your definition of Leech and leaching is incorrect.
Leechers are people who steals mods and post it elsewhere. (Some times selling it for money.)

Sidenote:
I'm a casual member and gamer, I only play offline games most are RPGs and Choice.
I currently have the "Active User" Badge.
Feel free to study my past actions as proof.
Here's how:
If you click at a member's name, it will open that member's profile (some accounts have restrictions).
Then look at my "Latest Activity" and "Postings".

Post automatically merged: Nov 21, 2019

Also in your first post you wrote:
"why would I pay 200 - 300 for a game that I just want to test to see if its entertaining enough for me to continue playing and make my purchase worthwhile?"

You don't have to unlock modded versions for that, use the play store/app store versions.

Well, let's agree with you that I do not need to unlock games to do a initial reviews on game it still doesn't change the fact that I still have to earn a sum before i could actually get enough SB Points for unlocks isn't it?

A leeching market strive when there's a lack of supply which in this case very prominent in this community. Say a user is here and manage to get a unlock and go out to sell for a few bucks say $5 to 5 people that's $25 bucks and in return he could always come back here, Purchase SB Points and get more SB Points for unlocks. The fault is not in the user but rather the system in itself. If the community in itself is Free for all users, who will want to pay for a game but in this community if a user have to be very active in this community in order to get the few hundred SB Points he could just pay a small amount to get the game which in turn feeds the leecher.

A review does net me some SB Points but as stated, it varies and how many review for a game do you want in a forum? If there's 1000 users and every user make a review this forum is will burst with pointless reviews with no quality because they may just be doing it so as to get the SB Points. I do not know how much I can get but I don't expect a single review to net me enough for an unlock.

 

[Mark A]

Well, let's agree with you that I do not need to unlock games to do a initial reviews on game it still doesn't change the fact that I still have to earn a sum before i could actually get enough SB Points for unlocks isn't it?

A leeching market strive when there's a lack of demand which in this case very prominent in this community. Say a user is here and manage to get a unlock and go out to sell for a few bucks say $5 to 5 people that's $25 bucks and in return he could always come back here, Purchase SB Points and get more SB Points for unlocks. The fault is not in the user but rather the system in itself. If the community in itself is Free for all users, who will want to pay for a game but in this community if a user have to be very active in this community in order to get the few hundred SB Points he could just pay a small amount to get the game which in turn feeds the leecher.

A review does net me some SB Points but as stated, it varies and how many review for a game do you want in a forum? If there's 1000 users and every user make a review this forum is will burst with pointless reviews with no quality because they may just be doing it so as to get the SB Points. I do not know how much I can get but I don't expect a single review to net me enough for an unlock.

Try making a few reviews first, see how that works.
But a friendly reminder, spam-like posts are against the forum rules.
(It's not fully automatic but it will catch on eventually.)
Your sympathy for casual members like myself almost feels like you are looking down on us.

Your math equation does make sense but the admins here are not lazy please don't forget that.
If the SB Points system is then removed there will be "more" cases of leeching because it would be too easy and if the site becomes an exclusive pay-to-stay site, who would win?
People get mods to beat in-app purchases, beat pay-to-win systems in games and to get apps that cost real money or full unlocked content, "for free".
If the site is not "free", then it will die.

If someone (leech or not) buys SB Points to unlock a game that is for free
("only costing SB Points and not real money") then that counts as a form of profit for the site.
Nothing is perfect. I'm not endorsing leaching, it's still against the rules.

 

[secretbunker]

Nothing on this planet that provides a person with anything of value can exist unless someone (usually many someones) funds it.

Goodwill, politeness, kindness, puppies, kittens, babies, EVERYTHING & EVERYONE exists and prospers because of money.

I love this site.

In order for it to exist, much less grow, money must SOONER OR Later, MUST flow from the users to the site operator.

How much money some might ask?

That must be discussed and announced.

If the value proposition isn't to someone's liking, that too can create issues.

As far as I can see, there is value here.

I suggest the community and @Sbenny begin this important conversation ASAP.

 

[Mark A]

I don't think there is a need to change the current system;
Members who can't "earn" SB Points can pay for it. (Pay-to-stay.)
While members who can't "buy" (or don't want to.) can "earn" SB Points. (Earn-to-stay.)
The SB Points system caters to both sides, minimizing potential loss of traffic compared to only catering to one side.

 

[Fieq]

I somewhat agree with you. For those casual players who totally suck as modders or don't have a clue how thag works, this new system might be a tad confusing and sort of a hassle.
But I do admire those modders who do this for free.

 

[pigcanswim]

Was not near to a computer during the weekend hence the disappearance.

Try making a few reviews first, see how that works.
But a friendly reminder, spam-like posts are against the forum rules.
(It's not fully automatic but it will catch on eventually.)
Your sympathy for casual members like myself almost feels like you are looking down on us.

Your math equation does make sense but the admins here are not lazy please don't forget that.
If the SB Points system is then removed there will be "more" cases of leeching because it would be too easy and if the site becomes an exclusive pay-to-stay site, who would win?
People get mods to beat in-app purchases, beat pay-to-win systems in games and to get apps that cost real money or full unlocked content, "for free".
If the site is not "free", then it will die.

If someone (leech or not) buys SB Points to unlock a game that is for free
("only costing SB Points and not real money") then that counts as a form of profit for the site.
Nothing is perfect. I'm not endorsing leaching, it's still against the rules.

As the way the site is, it is definitely not going towards the "free". The amount of time required for a user to get the unlock he/she wanted would be too great a cost instead of paying for a small amount just to get it straight away.

And as i have said earlier, the way leeching market strive is by the limited/lack of supply and huge demands. If the barrier of supply is removed, anyone with any brain can easily gain access to the said item and thereby reducing any leechers from gaining the upper hand in this market.

Another way would be to include splash screens on all modded games on this site with warnings of the game being supplied for free and links to the site. This in turn will also provide extra membership to this site and maybe it could provide goodwill/appreciation donations as well to support this community.

Nothing on this planet that provides a person with anything of value can exist unless someone (usually many someones) funds it.

Goodwill, politeness, kindness, puppies, kittens, babies, EVERYTHING & EVERYONE exists and prospers because of money.

I love this site.

In order for it to exist, much less grow, money must SOONER OR Later, MUST flow from the users to the site operator.

How much money some might ask?

That must be discussed and announced.

If the value proposition isn't to someone's liking, that too can create issues.

As far as I can see, there is value here.

I suggest the community and @Sbenny begin this important conversation ASAP.

I agree with what you have said. In such cases it will not be a bad idea to post a operating cost on the site and look for donors who are HAVE EXCESS DISPOSABLE INCOME and CAPABLE of donating to donate instead. The way the system is now is to force people to either generate threads and find topics or to go the short way by purchasing SB Points.

While I agree with the use of this(SB Points system as a form of karma) but maybe the system can be change into a game like system instead like giving a medal to the top 3 of the list for a year, a month or a week or even permanent (eg. 1st in place on xx month xx year) and the SB Points will revert back to 0 every month/3 months. This will also encourage modders to be much more active in helping out and contributing to this community as there will be something to show/compete for in the community.

 

[Nacht]

Kinda have to agree with pigcanswim. I just started modding recently, but I can see the system is skewed. I try to make my mod cheap like 15 or 10 SB and if they rate the game they got the majority of it back.
In essence that's because if the users arent spending money on mod because the mods are expensive, you dont generate income as a modder, aside from the 350 you initially get. This is a problem because VIP mod can costs up to 20k and let's hypothetically say I get income it'll only be 30% [only if you're an approved releaser] per download. So if I keep making my mod only 10 sb I'll only get 3 sb. Typically I say I get 300 sb max from one game. I think that's the average right now. So it'll take about 20-30 games before I can download a VIP game as a modder.
Now let's say you don't have SB and want to download a VIP game by buying SB. You'll need to pay nearly 18 euros to buy 1 VIP game and pray that the game dont update often or else that's another 15k or 20k SB you need to unlock.
Of course I enjoy the effort the admins are putting into the site, but there are definitely problems with the skewed economy right now.
The admins want people to contribute and less leeches, I totally agree, but if they want that then there's a need for either higher rewards or lower mod price.
Maybe there's something I missed out, feel free to point it.

 

[Mark A]

Was not near to a computer during the weekend hence the disappearance.



As the way the site is, it is definitely not going towards the "free". The amount of time required for a user to get the unlock he/she wanted would be too great a cost instead of paying for a small amount just to get it straight away.

And as i have said earlier, the way leeching market strive is by the limited/lack of supply and huge demands. If the barrier of supply is removed, anyone with any brain can easily gain access to the said item and thereby reducing any leechers from gaining the upper hand in this market.

Another way would be to include splash screens on all modded games on this site with warnings of the game being supplied for free and links to the site. This in turn will also provide extra membership to this site and maybe it could provide goodwill/appreciation donations as well to support this community.



I agree with what you have said. In such cases it will not be a bad idea to post a operating cost on the site and look for donors who are HAVE EXCESS DISPOSABLE INCOME and CAPABLE of donating to donate instead. The way the system is now is to force people to either generate threads and find topics or to go the short way by purchasing SB Points.

While I agree with the use of this(SB Points system as a form of karma) but maybe the system can be change into a game like system instead like giving a medal to the top 3 of the list for a year, a month or a week or even permanent (eg. 1st in place on xx month xx year) and the SB Points will revert back to 0 every month/3 months. This will also encourage modders to be much more active in helping out and contributing to this community as there will be something to show/compete for in the community.

Splash screen warning already exists, but as you pointed out; Not to all games/apps.
Also, is it really the modders who have to be more active?

Kinda have to agree with pigcanswim. I just started modding recently, but I can see the system is skewed. I try to make my mod cheap like 15 or 10 SB and if they rate the game they got the majority of it back.
In essence that's because if the users arent spending money on mod because the mods are expensive, you dont generate income as a modder, aside from the 350 you initially get. This is a problem because VIP mod can costs up to 20k and let's hypothetically say I get income it'll only be 30% [only if you're an approved releaser] per download. So if I keep making my mod only 10 sb I'll only get 3 sb. Typically I say I get 300 sb max from one game. I think that's the average right now. So it'll take about 20-30 games before I can download a VIP game as a modder.
Now let's say you don't have SB and want to download a VIP game by buying SB. You'll need to pay nearly 18 euros to buy 1 VIP game and pray that the game dont update often or else that's another 15k or 20k SB you need to unlock.
Of course I enjoy the effort the admins are putting into the site, but there are definitely problems with the skewed economy right now.
The admins want people to contribute and less leeches, I totally agree, but if they want that then there's a need for either higher rewards or lower mod price.
Maybe there's something I missed out, feel free to point it.

I can appreciate both lower prices and more rewards.
But to my understanding, it's the modder's choice of how much their work cost. (?)

 

[Nacht]

It's the modder choice, so it can range from 10 to 500 for all they want, but what I meant was more of putting a cap on how much some mods should be priced. Maybe online mods should be worth more than offline mods. Or max price for non-V.I.P mods should be 100 or around that price range.

 

[Mark A]

It's the modder choice, so it can range from 10 to 500 for all they want, but what I meant was more of putting a cap on how much some mods should be priced. Maybe online mods should be worth more than offline mods. Or max price for non-an infected site should be 100 or around that price range.

Sound reasoning.

 

[pigcanswim]

It's really sad that after 2 weeks there's still no admin with any actual powers to update on the current state of this topic with regards with the SBCash. Are they waiting for this kind of topics to die out slowly on their own or what I do not know as I've also notice a lot of threads regarding SBCash with literally no participation from admins.

Are the admins actually filtering out all 'suggestion' regarding SBCash and the workings of the forum economy because I do not see much participation in threads with topics on SBCash improvisation. There's even a modder who have just release inner details on how they earn their keep and expressed thoughts about it here but there seems to be no admin interested.

Honestly I love this forum because I know I can get mods that are relatively safe from malicious attacks but the stance the admins are taking towards the improvisation to the SBCash system is seriously lacking(if there's even any action at all). SO many ideas in the forum, yet so little interaction from the admins.

It's now a question as to why are the modders taxed with the mods they came out with, it does not make any sense and I'm also starting to understand why the prices of mods are so sky-high. Thanks @Nacht for the reveal. I honestly do not know where this forum is going or if the admins are even interested in changing at all.

In fact the amount of SB Points I got from creating this thread barely hit the min 100 SBCash mark that very few modders set for their mod apps with the majority of them setting 2 - 3 times higher. Please at least give a reply or state the direction where the economy is going or something? @Sbenny

 

[CordeliaCross]

It's really sad that after 2 weeks there's still no admin with any actual powers to update on the current state of this topic with regards with the SBCash. Are they waiting for this kind of topics to die out slowly on their own or what I do not know as I've also notice a lot of threads regarding SBCash with literally no participation from admins.



Are the admins actually filtering out all 'suggestion' regarding SBCash and the workings of the forum economy because I do not see much participation in threads with topics on SBCash improvisation. There's even a modder who have just release inner details on how they earn their keep and expressed thoughts about it here but there seems to be no admin interested.



Honestly I love this forum because I know I can get mods that are relatively safe from malicious attacks but the stance the admins are taking towards the improvisation to the SBCash system is seriously lacking(if there's even any action at all). SO many ideas in the forum, yet so little interaction from the admins.


It's now a question as to why are the modders taxed with the mods they came out with, it does not make any sense and I'm also starting to understand why the prices of mods are so sky-high. Thanks @Nacht for the reveal. I honestly do not know where this forum is going or if the admins are even interested in changing at all.


In fact the amount of SB Points I got from creating this thread barely hit the min 100 SBCash mark that very few modders set for their mod apps with the majority of them setting 2 - 3 times higher. Please at least give a reply or state the direction where the economy is going or something? @Sbenny

Here's the thing, conversations like these are the kinds of conversations, we as staff sit back and listen to. We don't get in the middle so people can feel open about speaking their mind. We only intervene when things get out of line or inappropriate or when action has been taken to implement things. However, what we DO is take feedback from these discussions and see how we can use them to help better the site. Sometimes, the most patient observers learn the most.


Each and every time a mod is released, the modder has to recreate the mod from scratch. Typically, this can take quite a bit of time. It is not something that is just done in a minute or two and then shared. For something to be placed in the VIP area, they typically have to have alot of specific coding or special things that make it alot harder than a normal mod. For instance, my Episode Interactive VIP Mod isn't just for a modded APK. It is for a brand new account with diamonds and passes applied to it that can be used with any current version of the game. Each time someone unlocks that mod, it takes me about 20-40 minutes to create that brand new custom account for the user EACH TIME. We as releasers don't get paid money for things like that, it is something that we volunteer to do. Other mods, that have custom mod menus and antiban features are a lot harder to mod and can take several days to figure out how to mod them. That is why those mods are in the VIP section. That section used to have a paid membership that would allow users access to those mods without paying SB Points, but that was when people started downloading the mods here and then posting them elsewhere.

On top of that, multiple modders have had to deal with harassment from members about updating mods the day after new updates come out on the google play store instead of right away in that moment. Imagine donating your time to do something like this and put in all your extra work only to have people treat you badly over not getting it soon enough.

These Modders, releasers and members that share their time here, volunteer to do so because they love to game and to share their work with other people around the world. Taxation of the SB Points allows the monetary amount that is associated with that amount of SB Points to go towards the site. The money that is saved through the taxation goes to supporting server costs, that SB Points supports contests and events on the site such as all of our holiday events, it goes toward helping for new site features to be implemented, and so many other things. Also, when you look closer at these events, they are based on activity, and many choose not to participate. For instance, each of the 12 days before Christmas, a new event was posted. They didn't require users to be a modder or a releaser, all those contests asked was for people to reply and vote for their favorite responses by giving them "likes". Several of those events had absolutely no participants and instead of simply eliminating the SB Points rewards, the SB Points that was meant to be rewarded was rewarded to members who donate their time here by making the community a better place. You can see all of our past events and their results here -> Completed Events There are plenty of ways for users to earn SB Points here that don't simply involve Releasing modded games.


You say that we haven't replied to "inner workings being revealed" however, this isn't something that is a secret. It is known knowledge among releasers and modders. Alot of the suggestions that have been given by users have been implemented and others are still being reviewed. Tons of them are duplicate suggestions as well that have multiple conversations for the same thing, so we keep an eye on them to see if any new ideas come out of the debate between users. If you look at a lot of these conversations you will see that they haven't been totally ignored and that myself, @Sbenny and other staff members have responded quite a few times during these different conversations. But we also don't want to discourage members from respectfully speaking their mind.

 

[Sbenny]

1. What's the actual purpose of this SB forum?

The purpose of this forum is let everyone understand nothing in this world is free, but at the same time it doesn't mean you have to pay for it. You can find other modding communities with paywalls such as "vip only" content which can only be unlocked with a purchase. We do have a vip only content here too as well, it's true, but the difference is that we don't force users to pay for it. Instead, we offer them a way to get it for free, simply by understanding the way a forum should work: give help and get help.

People nowadays are so used to file hosting sites they call "forums" which are nothing more than a collection of public download links to get everything they want in a couple minutes and then leave. Well, Sbenny.com isn't like that and never will be. We're not here to give everything to everyone, we're here to exchange information with others which is the only way to grow, learn and help each other.



2. Is it to recognize modders?

No, it's to recognize people willing to help others, and not "casual people" who just want a download link and leave. We're here for those who want to stay here, not for those who just visit a page and never come back.



3. Is it so modders can get a platform to earn money for their works?

No, but at the same time, why not? You're focusing your attention to modders, but on this community everyone has a chance to get SB Points as we introduce new ways to get SB Points nearly every week (such as the Smartphone Reviews section, open to literally everyone on this planet), so what would be wrong in having these people get a compensation for their work? We recently introduced a way for people to sell their SB Points, and I don't see why this would be a bad thing.



4. Or is this a place where modders get together to have fun by sharing their works?

If your definition of having fun is about sharing a public link of their mod and find a thousand sites with the same mod with stolen credits, then I'm sure you can find such sites easily on google. Having fun together doesn't mean offering a download link to a casual person who will leave after downloading your mod without even thanking you. Having fun means being part of our wonderful family and enjoy our time together. And that's already happening on here, just take the forum chat as an example, you can't find anything close to that elsewhere.



5. In a public forum it's impossible to expect everyone to contribute to a thread which in turn makes it impossible for casual people aka lurkers to actually get the things they want.

Who said that? First of all, public forum doesn't mean forum for lurkers. Secondly, I'm not expecting everyone to contribute to this forum, the world is full of lazy people but as we spend a lot of time to make something we share on here, why would we willing to give it out to everyone for nothing? Unlike the "real world", here we don't ask for money, instead we ask for being part of our family and help each other.


6. The only way for casual players can get what they need is through daily log in and try to earn some SBCash.

And that's why we offer countless ways to earn SB Points. The daily login bonus was meant for people to login and stay with us, post something or even something as simple as saying "hello" in the chat, but it easily turned into a sneaky way to open the forum tab and immediately close it, with the only purpose of getting a few SB Points, that's the reason of the changes we did.


Now I could keep answering to every question you're making, @pigcanswim but you didn't login anymore after 10th December, so I doubt it's worth writing this message furthermore as there are very low chances you'll read what I'm typing, as you probably surrended and, driven by your laziness, you decided to give up, like most lazy people nowadays are used to do.